SEO

Search engine optimisation today is virtually unrecognisable from that practised as late as 2010. Search engines have wised up to tactics like keyword stuffing and poor link building – and have even started penalising websites that still employ them.

Google and Bing are constantly updating their algorithms, even when big changes like Panda and Penguin aren’t being pushed through. The one thing all these changes have in common is that they’re designed to promote high-quality sites considered to be useful to searchers, and these sites always include fresh, relevant, interesting and engaging content.

If Google thinks your site is relevant, it will rank it more highly

Publishing content of the right length, with the right key phrases and the right links sends signals to search engine crawlers that your site contains relevant information. If Google thinks your site is relevant, it will rank it more highly.

In addition to this, the more content there is on your website, the more pages there are for Google to index and present to searchers when they type in a query. This further increases the chances of a page from your website ranking highly in search engine results pages.

The higher you rank in search, the more likely it is that potential customers will click on your site, rather than your competitors. Once they’re on the site, content will keep them engaged – and if what they’re reading is really impressive, they’re more likely to share it with friends and followers on social media.

These social signals provide further proof to Google that your site contains relevant and interesting information and helps you climb even higher in search results.

As search engines evolve an understanding that SEO is about more than just keywords will become even more important; the link between quality content and a high search ranking is only set to grow stronger.